Twitter Shuts Down Revue Newsletter Platform Following ‘Twitter Information’ Response from Former CEO

Should you needed a reminder of who’s now in cost at Twitter, Elon has supplied a pair this week.

Yesterday, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey posted his first-ever article to newsletter platform Revue, which Twitter purchased last January, during which he outlined his response to the current ‘Twitter Information’ leaks, via which Elon has been working with chosen journalists to uncover previous moderation actions taken by Twitter, and the way they particularly relate to conservative customers.

Dorsey, in fastidiously worded phrases, supplied a protection of his former colleagues, amid questions over their exercise, whereas additionally, as soon as once more, pointing to a decentralized mannequin for social platform moderation, which he believes might be a greater manner ahead to restrict bias, misinterpretation and hurt.

Which gained’t work, for a variety of causes. However Dorsey, as at all times, stays steadfastly optimistic, making use of philosophy over substance to hunt a brand new manner ahead, in hopes of shedding the missteps of instances previous.

I’m unsure which half upset Elon essentially the most. Possibly this line:

“The present assaults on my former colleagues might be harmful and doesn’t resolve something.”

Both manner, one thing appears to have gotten his goat, as a result of right now, lower than 24 hours after Dorsey posted his article, Twitter has despatched an e-mail to all Revue customers informing them that the platform is shutting down subsequent month.

As per Revue:

“From January 18, 2023, it’s going to now not be attainable to entry your Revue account. On that date, Revue will shut down and all information might be deleted. This has been a tough choice as a result of we all know Revue has a passionate consumer base, made up of individuals such as you.”

Once more, Twitter solely acquired Revue final yr, with a view to facilitating new types of income era for creators, as a part of its broader push to construct in additional monetization instruments. However clearly, it’s not a part of Musk’s ‘Twitter 2.0’ plan – or perhaps Elon didn’t know that Twitter-owned Revue until he noticed Jack’s submit yesterday.

I imply, that has occurred with different components:

The opposite consideration is that that is only a coincidence, that Twitter was going to close down Revue anyway and Dorsey simply occurred to publish a submit the day earlier than that announcement.

However then once more, right now Twitter additionally shut down a Twitter profile that had been tracking Musk’s private flights, which he swore he wouldn’t do, even utilizing it for example of his dedication to free speech.

It appears that evidently the definition of ‘free speech’, in Elon’s view, is variable, with stories that Musk has additionally been pushing staff to prioritize the removal of scam tweets that bear his likeness, together with some solutions that he had informed workers to remove videos of him being booed at a Dave Chapelle show earlier this week (this one appears to be a rumor, as the unique video continues to be up).

Musk himself has additionally commenced promoting COVID conspiracy theories and sharing transphobic perspectives. Each of which aren’t unlawful, which has been Musk’s said threshold for what might be acceptable within the app. However a consumer with over 120 million followers posting COVID conspiracies would positively have come beneath scrutiny in instances previous.

But, on the similar time, Musk has dominated out reinstating the account of banned broadcaster Alex Jones attributable to his private perspective on little one security.

In essence, what we’re seeing in ‘Twitter 2.0’ is that the platform is now being held to Elon Musk’s guidelines for ‘free speech’, and all that this entails. Which is seemingly extra versatile than the identical beneath earlier Twitter administration, however is way more aligned together with his private perspective than it’s the regulation or different established parameters.

Once more, when you needed a reminder of who’s in cost, Elon has made it clear, which may level to the longer term path of the app – and curiously, is precisely what Dorsey warns in opposition to in his essay.

Revue says that customers will have the ability to obtain their subscriber checklist, previous e-newsletter points, and analytics by following these instructions.